01-15-2008, 09:50 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Batman Junior
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News: GM's chairman - "small cars don't work in this country"
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DETROIT -- The auto industry's race to develop more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly technology is being driven mainly by the reluctance of Americans to buy smaller vehicles, says General Motors Corp. chairman Rick Wagoner.
"Small cars? We've tried that and it doesn't work in this country," Mr. Wagoner said yesterday. "It might work some day, but today it doesn't. People are simply not willing to make that radical a trade-off."
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Full story: At GM, a greener car beats a smaller one
I wonder if what Wagoner really means to say is, "We've tried that and we can't figure out how to make money selling small cars."
Because yesterday, Ford reported:
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In the US, sales of small cars likely will grow by 800,000 (25%) to a record 3.4 million units by 2012, according to Ford. - source GCC
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This info accompanied Ford's announcement about its plans for the North American version of its Verve small car.
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01-15-2008, 11:51 AM
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#2 (permalink)
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UnderModded
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Pablo - '07 Hyundai Santa Fe AWD 90 day: 23.62 mpg (US)
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It really begs the question, what has been GM's best small car to date? I can't think of a single one that stands out.
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01-15-2008, 12:29 PM
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#3 (permalink)
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Administrator
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Thats hittin the ol nail on the head Who.
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01-15-2008, 01:12 PM
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#4 (permalink)
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EcoModding Apprentice
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What a moron! Maybe GM will wake up when Toyota overtakes them to claim the top spot in US car sales? 
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01-15-2008, 02:16 PM
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#5 (permalink)
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(:
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I hear Chevettes were pretty good- durable too. They could be had with diesel engines too. I'm partial to the Chevy IIs and Corvairs from the '60's. And, I've always wanted an Opel GT! Vegas were pretty forgettable. Citations and their derivatives weren't that bad and GM sold tons of them- I had a Skylark and I miss that car; very comfortable, looked good to my eye, and pretty good on gas for an a/t car. What about Fieros?
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01-15-2008, 04:11 PM
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#6 (permalink)
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MechE
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Old news...
GM falling behind other auto mfr's.... I wonder why o.0
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Cars have not created a new problem. They merely made more urgent the necessity to solve existing ones.
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01-15-2008, 04:33 PM
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#7 (permalink)
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Batman Junior
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Who
It really begs the question, what has been GM's best small car to date? I can't think of a single one that stands out.
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Define "best". 
I'm driving a tiny GM car (okay, so Suzuki did most of the drivetrain engineering), and I'm happy with it. |
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01-15-2008, 06:40 PM
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#8 (permalink)
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UnderModded
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Pablo - '07 Hyundai Santa Fe AWD 90 day: 23.62 mpg (US)
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Okay so the best GM car was a Suzuki (CAMI) and someone could probably argue pretty strongly for the Nova while it was built in the NUMMI (Toyota) plant...
I was always fond of the Nova for 2 reasons.
1. Possibly an urban myth but it sold poorly in Mexico because the name translated loosely to "no go".
2. How the names of the one generation fit within the divisional naming structure.
Chev-Olds-Pontiac-Buick
Nova-Omega-Ventura-Apollo
N-O-V-A
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01-15-2008, 06:52 PM
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#9 (permalink)
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EcoModding Apprentice
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG
I wonder if what Wagoner really means to say is, "We've tried that and we can't figure out how to make money selling small cars."
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Yep. I don't wonder, either.
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01-15-2008, 06:55 PM
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#10 (permalink)
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Dartmouth 2010
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I was trash talking the volt the other day and my partner in conversation tried to make me feel bad because "all you GM-haters are the same," but now after GM claims fuel economy will cost an extra 6k$ per car and that small cars don't work, I wonder how anyone could stand up for GM...
Mehbe the volt will come out 5 years l8 and as an escalade, 
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